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“...and that government of the people, by the people, and for the people, shall not perish from the earth.” TheThe VVolunteerolunteer ABRAHAM LINCOLN JOURNAL OF THE VETERANS OF THE ABRAHAM LINCOLN BRIGADE

Vol. XXV, No. 3 September 2003

Veterans and friends with banners in Corbera. Photo courtesy of Bob Coale and Len Tsou. See “Return to the Ebro,” page 3. Chicago Vets, page 5 Prison Labor in Franco’s Spain, page 7 George Watt Awards, page 9 Book and Music Reviews, pages 16-20 Violunteer2003-3.qxd 8/19/2003 2:12 PM Page 2

Seeking World War II Letters To document the role of the veterans of the Lincoln Letters Brigade during World War II, ALBA is seeking privately Dear Friends: held correspondence written by vets in the military or The obituary of Bill Susman is a reminder of how from the home front. Such material will be indexed and neglect and procrastination negate the best of intentions. added to the ALBA archives at New York University’s I met Bill and was associated with him for a period Tamiment Library for the use of students and scholars. during the time when we both served on the board of the These letters may also be published in a forthcoming Abraham Lincoln Brigade Archives. I remember getting volume. down beside his chair in a noisy, crowded conference room Such gifts to ALBA are tax deductible. If you have to talk, and his admonishing, “Please Rick, you don’t have such material, please contact Julia Newman, Executive to genuflect to me!” Bill was very friendly, outgoing, and Secretary, ALBA—Room 227, 799 Broadway, New York, accepting of my really non-qualifications to be on the NY 10003; 212-674-5398; [email protected]. ALBA board. Since it involved Spanish Civil War aviation, of course I talked to him about the incident of his being made a the memory of Norman as NORMAL Perlman, not NOR- courier in the purchase of a German airplane for use of the MAN PERLMAN. A small thing , maybe , but a correction Spanish loyalists. I think we decided that the airplane was in the next Volunteer will be much appreciated. probably a commercial version of the Messerschmidt 108, Thanks, but Bill could not recall the name of the German purveyor, Polly Perlman nor that of the Spanish agent who arranged the sale, proba- bly at Villacoublay. Letters Continued on page 21 This was certainly an unusual occurrence, entrusting such a transaction to a brash young American volunteer, just arrived in France. (But it seemed to me, 50 years later, from WWW.ALBA-VALB.ORG his confident, easy manner and continuing enthusiasm “for Make a donation on line. We now accept the cause,” that Bill was probably just the right ALBA volun- teer to choose to finagle the sale of the German airplane.) credit cards. Support ALBA's important Bill said he would write down everything he could work. Donations are tax deductible. recall about the incident and send it to me. I often thought to write and pester him about it but never did, and now it’s too late. Worse yet, I cannot find the notes I made (if any) concerning the incident, and it doesn’t seem to be men- The Volunteer tioned elsewhere. Journal of the So, if any of you diligent and discerning SCW aviation Veterans of the historical researchers have ANYTHING concerning Bill Susman’s sale of an ME 108 to the Spanish republicans Abraham Lincoln Brigade early in 1937, I’d appreciate it if you would clue me in. an ALBA publication It seems like a minor, but highly interesting, footnote to Spanish Civil War aviation history, and I regret to have 799 Broadway, Rm. 227 fumbled the ball. New York, NY 10003 Viva la brigada! (212) 674-5398 Richard (Rick) Sanders Allen 831A Stewart Avenue Editorial Board Lewiston, ID 83501 Peter Carroll • Leonard Levenson Gina Herrmann • Fraser Ottanelli Dear Volunteer, Abe Smorodin I'm writing to ask you to correct a misspelling in vol.xxv' #2,under contributions, you listed my donation to Design Production Richard Bermack Erratum Editorial Assistance Nancy Van Zwalenburg The photo of Abe Osheroff that appeared in the last issue of The Volunteer, page 4 credited to photographer Submission of Manuscripts Jose Moreno should have been credited to Jaffe. Please send manuscripts by E-mail or on disk. E-mail: [email protected]

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ReturReturnn ttoo thethe EEbrbroo By Bob Coale he International Brigades returned to the Ebro battlefields Tof 1938 to commemorate the 65th anniversary in a four-day reunion from July 3-6. The initiative was orga- nized by Terre de Germanor, an association of some 21 municipalities on both sides of the Pyrenees that are working to preserve the historic mem- ory of those who fought for freedom in the Spanish Civil War and World War II. The events attracted about 20 IB veterans, as well as 350 friends and family members, from 22 countries, from as close as France and as far as Estonia and Costa Rica. There were about 10 veterans from the 15th Brigade including, from the United States, Moe Fishman, Jack Shafran, Jack Shafran and Moe Fishman are about to cross the Ebro. and Clarence Kailin. The latter two carried with them not only memories, In Miravet veterans and friends re- gathering around the monument but also scars, from the Ebro Battle. crossed the river, throwing red erected by Italian veterans. This beau- The commemoration included the carnations into the water in homage to tiful memorial sits on an overhang customary speeches, dinners, Spanish fallen comrades. with a vista of the valley with the Ebro Republican songs, and flags. Farther upstream, in Flix, where running through it. Giovanni Pesce, Ceremonies were organized in towns many men of the 11th, 13th and 15th an Italian IBer, gave a rededication central to International Brigade history. Brigades crossed in 1938, there was a speech. Standing up front holding one end of the VALB banner, Moe Fishman witnessed a white-haired woman weeping all through the ceremony, Vet Pees Homage caressing the concrete base of the mon- ument. We learned later that her Jack Shafran had a personal anecdote to tell reporter Jerome husband died in this action in 1938. Socolovsky, who covered this summer’s memorial events for National One of the most memorable Public Radio. He explained that soldiers sometimes make promises that events took place in Marsa. This town haunt them for their entire lives. While facing bombardments on Hill 666, is unique in Spain; in a nearby field Jack swore that if he survived the war he’d return someday to piss on rests John Cookson, whose gravesite is Franco’s grave. At least that is what Jack remembers today. But, like many the only one to survive Francoist van- vets, Jack refused to return to Spain while Franco remained in power. dalism. In a moving talk in the local Not until 1986 did he have the opportunity to come clean with his con- auditorium, Clarence Kailin, whose science. With his son Seth, Jack visited the huge Franco tomb in the book on his friend and fellow Cathedral of the Valley of the Fallen. Before stepping inside, Jack told the Wisconsonite will be published short- reporter from NPR, he entered a pharmacy and purchased a glass vial, ly in Spain, thanked the townspeople which he took to his hotel room. He filled the vial with urine, returned to for preserving the site and spoke to the cathedral, and emptied it on Franco’s grave. The story was broadcast them about Cookson. Recently on July 6. Continued on page 4 Apparently Jack wasn’t the only person with such ideas. A recent visi- tor to the cathedral found that a guardrail has since been installed at the dictator’s last resting place. It is not so easy to pee homage these days, but Bob Coale is assistant professor of some, so we are told, still manage. Hispanic studies at the Universite Paris 8 - Saint Denis.

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ReturReturnn ttoo EEbrbroo Continued from page 3

Veterans and friends in Corbera.

Clarence has been in close contact international peace. with the town authorities to guarantee The main address the preservation of the site and to was given jointly by erect a monument. Later, with his son Ana Perez, President and daughter, Clarence visited his of the Asociación de friend’s grave for the first time. Amigos de las The next day, brigadistas and Brigadas friends converged on Corbera de Ebro Internacionales of for the official ceremony of remem- Spain, and her coun- brance. Several International terpart, Sr. Luis Brigaders fought for and passed Bielsa, President of through this small agricultural town the Amigos of on numerous occasions from April to Barcelona. A rousing September 1938. There, surrounded by message from Lise Vet Moe Fishman (r) talks with the mayor of Barcelona. the ruins of the old town—which London, herself an remain as a reminder of the horrors of IBer as well as spokesperson for the infamous Hill 666. With the backdrop war and a monument to peace—and French Resistance to fascism, closed the of Gandesa and Corbera across the under the hot summer sun, brigadis- ceremony. valley, Jack shared his memories of tas, former Spanish political prisoners, Following lunch, another U.S. vet- the struggle on that bare rock in 1938 several associations of friends of the eran made his own personal homage. for an upcoming documentary movie. IB, and local and regional authorities Jack Shafran, escorted by his son-in- Following three days of official paid homage to veterans and their law and a British filmmaker, once Continued on page 12 endless struggles for democracy and again made his way to the top of the 4 THE VOLUNTEER September 2003 Violunteer2003-3.qxd 8/19/2003 2:12 PM Page 5

CChichicagoago LLaudsauds AAcctivisttivist VVetsets

Ralph Nicholas of the CFLB intro- CFLB now launches an exciting duced Cary Nelson (Jubilee Professor new project. With generous grants of Liberal Arts and Science at from the Puffin Foundation and University of Illinois, Champaign- Columbia College Office of Urbana, and Vice-Chair of ALBA), Community Arts Partners Urban who gave a moving keynote address, Missions, CFLB will support a major reading poems from his volume The collaboration between Free Street Wound and the Dream: Sixty Years of Programs (urban young people’s American Poems about the Spanish Civil drama and musical theater groups), War. Columbia College Theater Chicago poet Cranston Knight fol- Department, and Proyecto hACE lowed. Identifying strongly with both (bilingual high-school students) to his African and his Latin background develop a performance piece based on (one of his grandfathers fled Spain for how young people relate to the Puerto Rico), he spoke about teaching Spanish Civil War and its relevance to history to working-class students in a issues of our age. After being per- Chicago community college, where formed several times in the Chicago refugees and minorities hoping to get ahead in America often ask what his- tory has to do with them. He engages Jamie O’Reilly sang and hosted the them through poetry. event. Cranston read poems–about By Marta R. Nicholas Lorca, about Paul Robeson, about an Afro-American woman reporter cov- he Chicago Friends of the ering the Spanish Civil War—from his Lincoln Brigade honored the book, La Brigada: Spain (1936-39), soon Tlocal vets with a program of to be published by Chicago’s Third music and poetry, “Forever Activists World Press. for Truth and Justice,” on June 7 at Fred Katz’s song “Beloved Roosevelt University’s Ganz Hall, Comrade” preceded remembrances of thanks to the support of the universi- recently deceased local vets Bill Sennett, ty’s Center for New Deal Studies. Art Harrison, Paul Lutka, and Robert Jamie O’Reilly, creator of the Klonsky (whose granddaughter Jo Jo Bill Sennett (center), one of the activists cabaret review “Pasiones,” hosted and Klonsky talked of her memories and honored in the program, at a civil sang throughout the program, accom- read excerpts from his letters from rights demonstration in 1946. panied by her niece Katrina O’Reilly. Spain). Chuck Hall, Al Weinerman, The opener was the Spanish folk song and Aaron Hilkovich are the remain- area, the program will travel to other “Asturias,” which was followed by ing vets in the Chicago area. locations. In addition to providing Jenny Magnus reading Genevieve The audience was invited to look resources for the young people to Taggard’s poem “To the Abraham at photos and other memorabilia learn about the SCW, the CFLB will Lincoln Brigade.” assembled for the occasion. All joined help arrange productions—including After comments by CFLB Chair in singing “Sweet Cookhouse/Young some of the financing. Anyone inter- vet Charles Hall, Henry Garcia (whose Man from Alcala” and “Jarama.” ested in more information about family emigrated to Cuba from Spain) The final item of the program was and/or contributing to this project can read a message of support, in Spanish a call and response: Several people contact Yolanda Hall at yfhall@mind- and English, from Francisco Moreno, read short statements expressing con- spring.com, (708) 488-9552, or Marta Director of Instituto Cervantes in temporary causes. At the end of each, Nicholas at [email protected], Chicago. Jamie read special remarks the participant said, “We continue to (773) 288-1538. honoring Commander Oliver Law, the pursue,” and the audience replied, Marta R. Nicholas is active in Chicago first Afro-American to lead an inte- “Truth and Justice,” in the language of Friends of the Lincoln Brigade, ALBA’s grated company of American troops; their choice (for example, “Verdad y midwest Associates. his daughter, Eunice Maynes, was Justicia!” in Spanish or “Emes und unable to attend due to illness. Gerekhtikeyt!” in Yiddish). THE VOLUNTEER September 2003 5 Violunteer2003-3.qxd 8/19/2003 2:12 PM Page 6

InIn BrBriefief

Vet Artist Irving Norman on the Web An introduction to the paintings of Lincoln vet Irving Norman is now available under the title “The Artist and the Human Predicament.” The web- site address is www.irvingnorman.com. A longtime California resi- dent, the self-educated artist has works hanging in museums around the country.

The Vermont International Film Foundation will honor the memory of one of its founders, Lincoln vet George Cullinen, dur- ing this year’s events, October 16- 18, in Burlington, Vermont. Cullinen died last spring.

Photo Show in Argentina ALBA’s traveling exhibition of black and white photographs, “The Aura of the Cause,” curated by Cary Nelson, will be shown at the Dave Smith Turns 90 Palacio de Bellas Artes in Buenos Aires, Argentina, from September Neighbors, friends and members of the Bay Area Post came together in through November 2003, thanks June to celebrate Dave Smith’s 90th birthday at his daughter’s and son-in-law’s to the support of The Puffin (Linda & Steve Lustig) home in Berkeley, California. Much food, Spanish wine, Foundation, Ltd. The same grant and camaraderie prevailed. In Dave’s short remarks, he said that the gathering will enable vet Moe Fishman to was a tribute to all the vets. participate in public events there Because for many years Dave has celebrated birthdays at 5-year intervals, with Argentine vets of the Spanish all were invited back in 2008! In good health and a member of the Sierra Club, Civil War. he takes a weekly 3-4 mile hike with a group of seniors in the hills and around the lakes of the area. He’s the oldest male hiker of the group. And Dave keeps on “fighting the good fight,” as we all need to do.

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Prison Labor in the Building of the Valley of the Fallen

By Nicolás Sánchez-Albornoz Translated by Anthony Geist Nicolás Sánchez-Albornoz, a long- time member of ALBA’s Board of Governors, is professor emeritus of history at NYU. Born in Madrid in 1926, he was arrested in 1947 for student activism in the University of Madrid and sentenced to seven years hard labor in the Cuelgamuros prison camp. He was one of thousands of Republican political prisoners forced to work on the construction of the Valley of the Fallen, destined to be Franco’s tomb. He served six months before escaping with two other prisoners, aided by a young American student, Barbara Probst Solomon. She has made a documentary about the experience, When the War was Over. The author is one of four survivors from his labor camp. He has sworn not to visit the Valley of the Fallen until Franco is exhumed or a urinal is installed directly over his grave.

n Franco Spain during the 1940s and 50s, being in prison or in freedom differed only in degree. AllI of Spain was a great prison in which everyone’s movements were restricted. Only exceptionally were Spaniards able to travel outside the country. Gibraltar and Portugal returned fugitives who crossed their borders. The Pyrenees remained closed after France broke relations with Spain. The area near the border on the Spanish side was heavily patrolled after guerillas based in France tried to invade the Aran Valley. To circulate in that zone required a special permit, signed by no less than the captain general of the military region. To travel elsewhere in Spain one needed a safe-conduct pass issued by the police upon presentation (this is not invented by Buñuel) of a certificate signed by a parish priest that the bearer had taken communion. Since I traveled frequently between Monument at the Valley of the Fallen. Digital manipulation from photos by Galen Continued on page 8 R Frysinger. THE VOLUNTEER September 2003 7 Violunteer2003-3.qxd 8/19/2003 2:13 PM Page 8

Valley of the Fallen Continued from page 7

Ávila and Madrid, I took communion annually in San Vicente in order to get my certificate. Police checked train cars asking for papers and the Guardia Civil patrolled highways and foot tracks. Homes were subject to impromptu searches without warrants. A network of informants helped keep an eye on all those suspected of politi- cal crimes. Virtually the only option left to those who were pursued was to become topos (moles) and literally wall themselves up in their homes. I am often asked if Franco’s camps were extermination camps in the same sense as the Nazis’ were. In Spain there were of course camps, colonies and battalions where prisoners died of mistreatment without facing the firing squad. This happened less frequently in Cuelgamuros and similar work The first work camps were under Rarely does one encounter a text camps. Excavation of the crypt was military command. Prisoners dug both as convoluted and at the same often bloodied by accidents with trenches, built fortifications, or cleared time as obvious as this. It does not explosives, and deaths occurred dur- rubble under the watchful eye of sol- give the impression of having been ing the construction of the monastery. diers and officers. Within a year the written by a bloodthirsty beast or a The roadwork was extenuating. fascists added to this primary exploita- cold-blooded Nazi convinced of the Additionally there was never enough tion of political prisoners and prisoners superiority of the chosen race. What food. Hygiene was precarious. I still of war a more perverse punishment. I the text reveals is the voice of a priest remember summer nights when the cannot resist quoting part of the well versed in verbal manipulation. bedbugs crawled in our nostrils and preamble to Decree 281, issued May 28, The decree, inspired in the Jesuit ears and sucked out buckets of blood. 1937, exactly as Buchenwald was being Pérez del Pulgar, grants prisoners the Life in the work details was only built. This decree began the systematic right to work but leaves them no benign by comparison with prison. exploitation of Republican labor: option. If they do not cooperate they Concentration camps, work battal- The right to work enjoyed are forced to comply. The distortion of ions, disciplinary labor battalions for by all Spaniards must not be the concept of right reveals its true Republican soldiers, colonies, work- denied by the New State to purpose. Its intention is to make the shops, penal detachments —the entire Red prisoners... The concession prisoner responsible for the cost of his string of penal institutions did not of this right ... could be taken confinement. A few lines farther on, have a single or permanent character as simply another ineffectual which I have not transcribed, the over the first 25 years of the Franco concession in the face of the decree distinguishes between prison- regime. Their evolution over time can passivity of those entitled to it, ers accused of serious crimes, who are be likened to a funnel, wide enough in leaving unfulfilled the goals given no rights at all, and the large 1939 to accommodate an enormous the declaration of this right group that has no specific charges mass of prisoners, narrowing to a entails, that is that they can hanging over them but who the State point in the early 60s. The support themselves by their prefers to keep locked up. This decree Cuelgamuros penal detachments own effort, aid their families confirms that prison labor was an occupy just a fraction of that process, appropriately, and not consti- important resource to increase repres- and the point I am referring to in the tute a drain on the public sion to unjustifiable levels without late 40s is about half way through, treasury. Said right to work is extra costs and without removing when the early brutal repression had governed by the concept of a laborers from the circuit of produc- slackened somewhat and the work ‘right-function’ or ‘right-duty’ tion. The system reached its greatest and is, to be precise, a ‘right- details had become an important busi- Continued on page 13 ness for the State. obligation’. 8 THE VOLUNTEER September 2003 Violunteer2003-3.qxd 8/19/2003 2:13 PM Page 9

GGeoreorgege WWattatt AAwwarardsds 20032003 By Daniel Czitrom Voices From the Valley: agreement to leave the past alone for e are pleased to announce El Valle de los Caidos in the sake of a stable democracy. They the winners of this year’s History and Memory have, for the most part, de-politicized WWGeorge Watt Awards, estab- the monument as much as possible. lished to honor the memory of this by Kathleen Rose Halper Today there are no Franco or José Lincoln vet, author, activist and lead- Antonio memorabilia in the Valley of ing figure in creating and supporting he Valley of the Fallen, the the Fallen gift shop, and guidebooks ALBA. The competition encourages largest monument in Spain, was ignore or barely mention the detail student research and writing on the Tbuilt by political prisoners and that prison labor was used to build the American experience in Spain, as dedicated to the victors of the Spanish Valley. This leaves partisans on both well as related topics in the Spanish Civil War. Buried in its Basilica are the the right and the left frustrated, as Civil War and the larger history of bodies of José Antonio Primo de both sides see their understanding of anti-fascism. Rivera and Francisco Franco. The history silenced. Yet this silencing This year, we received essays monument’s political identity seems favors a Francoist interpretation in from the widest geographical range clear, glorifying one side and punish- that it does not expose an alternative yet. The 22 undergraduate and four ing the other. Yet despite this, the understanding of the monument, one graduate entries came from students Valley provokes opposing interpreta- that has never been presented official- from all over the United States, as well tions and understandings. The same ly. For years Franco presented this as Canada, England, France, Pakistan, monument that symbolizes division monument in his own language, artic- Cameroon, and Zaire. The quality of and war to some represents reconcilia- ulating an interpretation still held by the undergraduate essays was espe- tion and peace to others. his supporters. Today this message is cially impressive, and the judges How is it that one monument can no longer as loud. Yet the victims of decided to award two prizes of $500 have such contrary meanings? Much of the war have never had their message each in that category, but none for the answer lies in the history of Spain articulated through official channels. graduate level work. This year’s com- under Franco. The notoriously prag- This project is based on primary mittee consisted of Shirley Mangini matic and flexible Franco presented sources, as well as oral histories I con- (California State University at Long different faces to different people at dif- ducted in Spain with former political Beach), Mel Small (Wayne State ferent times. In Franco’s terms, prison prisoners who worked on the monu- University), and Daniel Czitrom labor in general, and at the Valley, was ment, a sculptor who worked on the (Mount Holyoke College). both charitable and punitive, for the Valley of the Fallen, Falangistas, benefit of the prisoner and for the bene- Franquistas, and a former Minister of And the 2003 winners are: fit of all of Spain. Depending on the Housing under Franco. I argue that time and the audience, Franco used the the idea of the Valley of the Fallen as a Kathleen Rose Halper, Wesleyan Valley of the Fallen to glorify the war or place of peace and reconciliation is the University, for “Voices From the to exalt his peace. result of the manipulation of the Valley: El Valle de los Caidos in History The language of reconciliation and regime and of regime supporters’ And Memory” peace associated with the Valley attempts to rewrite history. Andrey Shlyakhter, Brandeis increased as the population of people This history has been left unchal- University, for “The Good Fight On who had not lived through the Civil lenged and uncorrected by post-war War grew and as the regime began to governments in an attempt to main- Trial: The Subversive Activities cater to an increasingly accepting tain peace and reconciliation Control Board on the Abraham Lincoln international community. But Franco achieved during the transition from Brigade in 1955” never abandoned the belligerent and dictatorship to democracy. Yet many We extend our warmest congratu- one-sided tone of his earlier rhetoric, have begun to question and chal- lations to both. so that the two opposing messages lenge this history, demanding the were simultaneous. exhumation of Republicans who had Yet the question remains why, been buried in mass graves during Daniel Czitrom, former chair of the ALBA almost 30 years after the death of and after the war, thus literally and Board of Governors, is co-author of Red Franco, does the Valley of the Fallen figuratively confronting the ghosts of Bessie, a new historical drama with continue to mean such different things the past. I hope this essay will con- songs, inspired by the letters, experi- to different people? To answer that tribute to this process by bringing ences, and family of Lincoln vets Joe and question we must look at Spain after the opinions expressed in private Leo Gordon. Franco. The governments since Franco interviews into public conversation. entered into a “pact of silence,” a tacit Continued on page 10 THE VOLUNTEER September 2003 9 Violunteer2003-3.qxd 8/19/2003 2:13 PM Page 10

WWattatt AAwwarardd Continued from page 9 The Good Fight On tained in a section of the decision enti- evaluations of commissars by brigade Trial: The Subversive tled “Political Commissars and party leaders clearly indicate that they Activities Control Board Communist Indoctrination,” that “a were expected to disseminate commu- political commissar system … com- nist propaganda. On the other hand, on the Abraham Lincoln pletely dominated by Communists the extent to which the commissars Brigade in 1955 functioned throughout the were able to shape the Lincolns’ politi- International Brigades, including the cal outlook is debatable, and the by Andrey Shlyakhter ALB, for the purpose … of dispensing volunteers’ varying experiences with Communist indoctrination.” The “communist indoctrination” lead one he Good Fight on Trial” implication was that Spain became a to conclude that the commissars were addresses the singular case breeding ground for Communist revo- never able to attain the status of “Tof a government agency lutionary cadres, who would lead a “intellectual policemen” ascribed to passing judgment on matters of histo- “fight for world revolution when they them by the SACB. ry. In its 1954 hearing of The Attorney returned to the United States.” A still “This above all is the highest trea- General vs. Veterans of the Abraham more serious allegation, contained in son/To do the right thing for the Lincoln Brigade, the Subversive the section titled “ALB Members wrong reason,” wrote T. S. Eliot in Activities Control Board (SACB) Trained as Soviet Agents,” asserted: Murder in the Cathedral. In its dogged determined that the VALB constituted “Political Commissars … turned over … pursuit of subversion, the SACB itself a “Communist-front” organization. In men who were then sent to the diver- became guilty of such treason. presenting their case, the Attorney sionary school where they were Although history has vindicated its General’s lawyers sought to show that taught sabotage and commando tac- judgment that members of the Lincoln the VALB’s predecessor, the Abraham tics by Russian experts, such persons Brigade had trained as “Soviet agents” Lincoln Brigade, was already con- becoming members of the CPSU for in Spain (e.g., Morris Cohen), they trolled by Communists and served the interests of the Soviet Union. As a result, the truth of what took place in “[T]he volunteers’ varying experiences with Spain between 1936 and 1939 became the subject of debate in a Washington ‘communist indoctrination’ lead one to conclude courtroom. that the commissars were never able to attain the Although the SACB denied pass- ing judgment on the history of the status of ‘intellectual policemen’ ascribed to them Spanish Civil War, 60 pages of its Recommended Decision are devoted to by the SACB.” the activities of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade rather than the veterans’ orga- use in the future wherever the Soviet were not the volunteers named by the nization. Under “Findings of Fact,” Union directed.” By demonstrating Board itself—Irving Goff and Bill the decision includes sections with that the Lincolns in Spain were not Aalto, neither of whom had ever such titles as “Character and Function only subjected to “Communist indoc- worked for Soviet intelligence. Their of ALB in Spain,” “Communist trination,” but that some of them were guerrilla training under Soviet instruc- Leadership of the ALB,” and “Soviet trained as “Soviet agents,” the SACB tors enabled them to serve their Interests Advanced in Spain by fulfilled its mandate of finding sub- country in World War II, but to the CPUSA and CPS Through the United version. Or had it? SACB this training became evidence Front.” Given recent scholarship on My paper shows that the SACB of “subversion” once their skills were the subject (e.g., R. Radosh, M. was right about some things and no longer needed. The facts of their Habeck, and G.Sevostianov, Spain wrong about others. After reconstruct- biographies had not changed, but the Betrayed: the Soviet Union in the Spanish ing the stories of Lincoln commissars evaluation of those facts became sub- Civil War [Yale, 2001]) such claims John Gates, Joe Dallett, Archie Brown, ject to a new, Cold War way of cannot be dismissed simply as excess- Carl Geiser, Harold Smith, and Oscar thinking. That was treason indeed. es of their time but must be evaluated Hunter, I concluded that most com- I would like to thank my advisor seriously for their historical accuracy. missars were indeed committed at Brandeis University, David Two such “historical” claims Communists who used their position Engerman, and the Brandeis made by the SACB are particularly to promote communist ideology University Undergraduate Research compelling. One is the allegation, con- among the volunteers. Moreover, Program for funding this project. 10 THE VOLUNTEER September 2003 Violunteer2003-3.qxd 8/19/2003 2:13 PM Page 11

Tamiment Library Acquires Robert Colodny Papers

By Michael Nash his spring the Tamiment Library acquired the papers of Robert TGarland Colodny (1915- 1997). Colodny was a brave veteran of the Lincoln Brigade who, in the summer of 1937, while fighting near Madrid, was struck above the right eye by a sniper’s bullet. Colodny woke up in a hospital in the Palace Hotel in Madrid. He had gangrene of the brain and was not expected to live, but proceeded to make a miraculous recovery. The injury left him partially paralyzed and blind on his left side. Nevertheless, four months later, in November 1937, he volunteered to be sent to an anti- gas school in Madrid because he had been a chemistry major at Columbia University before volunteering to go to Spain. After a brief return to the front, Colodny found that he was too weak to fight, and he returned to the United States in April 1938. Despite his continuing disability, Colodny joined the United States Army in 1941. He served for four years, becoming a staff sergeant with the army intelligence unit that was Colodny’s newsletters and occasional After the war, Colodny earned a stationed in Alaska’s Aleutian Islands. radio programs were designed to raise doctorate in history and philosophy Here he worked with fellow intelli- morale by providing the soldiers with from the University of California at gence officer Dashiell Hammett news from the home front and a sense Berkeley. He then taught at San publishing the legendary newsletter of mission. Francisco State College and the The Adakian. Colodny and Hammett Their writings contain a vivid University of Kansas. In 1959 he also co-authored The Battle for the description of this northern front writ- joined the faculty of the University of Aleuthians, which was published by ten from a broad international Pittsburgh, where he taught until his the United States Army in 1944. perspective. They often included anal- retirement in 1986. He was one of the Hammett and Colodny arrived in yses of the news from occupied France most prominent historians of science the Aleutian Islands, on Adak, some- and Fascist Spain. According to in the United States, influencing at time in late 1943. Hammett was a Colodny, “We reported the war in real least three generations of scholars. He veteran of World War I and Colodny time. The generals gave us carte was an early proponent of the so- of the Spanish Civil War. The mission, blanche to tell the story as we saw fit. called externalist approach. which involved 50,000 men dug into The North Pacific fighting men were His work demonstrated that the the icy Arctic wilderness in the Bering perhaps the first to get the full story of history of science needs to be studied Sea, was to root out the Japanese from the Partisan armies of the International within a broad social and cultural their last remaining foothold on U.S. Brigade veterans commanding resis- context, because is very much part of territory and to prepare bases for the tance forces, [and how] Spanish the society that produced it. invasion of the Japanese home islands. Republic exiles contributed to allied Throughout his career Colodny was Not surprisingly given the location victory.” The Colodny Papers contain interested in the relationship between and climate, there were serious morale a nearly complete run of The Adakian Continued on page 15 issues in the Aleutians. Hammett and and scripts from the radio broadcasts. THE VOLUNTEER September 2003 11 Violunteer2003-3.qxd 8/19/2003 2:13 PM Page 12

ReturReturnn ttoo EEbrbroo Continued from page 4

ceremonies, while most visitors began local friends of the IB and students of their trek home, several IB delegations the Spanish Civil War. The regional returned to Barcelona, where they press of Catalonia widely covered were received in both the town hall these events, including interviews and the regional parliament. with several IBers. In the United This commemoration of the Ebro States, National Public Radio reporter is the largest such gathering in recent Jerome Socolovsky broadcast an inter- years in Catalonia, attracting many view with Lincoln vet Jack Shafran. In a unique coincidence with his- toric relevance, over the same weekend, in northern Catalonia, close to the border with France, a monu- ment was inaugurated in memory of the hundreds of thousands of Spanish Republicans who were forced to flee the country in 1939. The monument in Vajol marks the spot where Lluis Companys and José Antonio Aguirre, presidents respectively of Catalonian and Basque governments during the war, went into exile.

Photos clockwise from top: Clarence Kailin, vets at Corbera, George Sossenko, vets crossing the Ebro River, and rally in front of church at Corbera. 12 THE VOLUNTEER September 2003 Violunteer2003-3.qxd 8/19/2003 2:13 PM Page 13

Valley of the Fallen Continued from page 8

success when it joined with private shared by the victors and their men- enterprise. tors. The working class was, in the This system is worthy of a much final analysis, the usual object of lengthier study, which will have to exploitation. What was new was the wait for another occasion, but I would cruder form of exploitation. The con- like to turn my attention to two factors cept of class finally prevailed over the fundamental to this regime of gas chambers and their equivalents. redemption: vengeance and class. Prisoners were more valuable digging When the military rose up in arms ditches than dead. The State preferred against the government of the the role of supplier of labor to the pri- Republic, they expected immediate vate sector. The importance that I victory and that the country would be attribute to class consciousness in this intact. The resistance of the working process has less to do with a Marxist class put down the rebellion in the analysis than with the facts. The major urban centers and took them by Franco regime followed a Marxist for- surprise. The rules of the game, as mula, but inverted it. Eleven years played in the 19th and early 20th cen- after the decree took effect, when I turies, had been broken. A show of was sentenced, the regime of prison arms did not guarantee the immediate labor remained virtually unchanged. imposition of the goals of the army in Because I was a student and not affili- the face of general public passivity. ated with any particular political released from prison. For each year The partial success of the fascist upris- party I was assigned to the office of worked the prisoner earned some 150 ing escalated into a lengthy war of the work detail. I learned from the pesetas, which represented little pur- attrition. Military victory was finally documents I had access to at that time chasing power. Twelve hundred achieved in the midst of the desolation that the State charged the Molán pesetas for eight years’ hard labor was of the country. Construction Company, which had a cruel joke. Of the remaining 10 pese- Rather than accept responsibility the contract for the construction of the tas, five were what the administration for their actions and miscalculations, monastery, 10.50 pesetas per day for budgeted for room and board. For the the army decided to take revenge on each prisoner it supplied, more than price of renting prison labor the State those who had dared to defy their one-third less than the base wage of covered the cost of feeding and cloth- superiority and defend their govern- “free” labor. The State, as employment ing the prisoners. Hence prisoners ment by taking up arms, accusing agency, sold labor at a modest price cost the State nothing. Additionally, them of military insurrection. The mil- and made a great profit. By the same the other five pesetas went to cover itary shamelessly used the codes token the construction company the costs of infrastructure, guards, intended to regulate its own behavior reduced its labor costs and increased police and the military. The State did to sentence and execute civilians and its profits. For Franco-era construction not need to release prisoners to save comrades in arms who had defended companies, prison labor represented a money. On the contrary, as the prison the government. This argument was primitive source of capital accumula- population increased, so did profits. the justification for mass executions tion. By the end of this extortion of In the light of documents and and arrests for years following the political prisoners the accumulated budgets of the Ministry of Justice and war. Concerning material damages wealth reached its logical conclusion, the Army in those years, future histo- suffered, two laws —one of political baptizing a new resort on the Costa rians will decide if the regime of responsibilities and the other of del Sol with the name of the company prison labor constituted an accidental redemption of sentences through responsible for building the road to source of income or if, as I maintain, it labor— were conceived no less the Valley of the Fallen: Puerto Banús. financed the enormous repressive strangely as economic revenge. The A doubly lucrative business built on apparatus of the Franco regime. first law punished the pocketbook of the backs of the prisoners. Franco’s refusal to seek reconciliation the Republican middle class; the con- The profits that the State made after the war surely has its roots in cept of redemption put the weight of renting prisoners can be broken down ideology and its emotions, but Franco the reconstruction of the country on as follows. Of the 10.50 pesetas also had economic reasons to avoid the shoulders of the working class. charged per day, half a peseta went reconciliation. The imposition of forced labor fit into an account in the prisoner’s Continued on page 14 perfectly with the concept of class name, which he received when THE VOLUNTEER September 2003 13 Violunteer2003-3.qxd 8/19/2003 2:13 PM Page 14

Valley of the Fallen Continued from page 13

To give a more complete picture, to draw up a daily menu with a bal- gence, which fell fully on the shoul- the research I propose should also anced calorie count of carbohydrates, ders of the repressor-criminals, who include the construction cost of the fats, and proteins within given guide- grew rich at their expense. Valley of the Fallen, not only direct but lines. The tables had to balance the Despite the particular ideology of indirect costs, including the damage number of prisoners and the food on some wardens and prison officials, the caused to the rebuilding and develop- stock in the warehouse, gradually con- regime of the Franco concentration ment of a country that lay in ruins by suming the monthly allotments sent by camps did not follow a Nazi model. diverting scarce resources (including the General Office of Prisons. These Control of the camps did not lie with labor) to the erection of a monument to tables were not worked out ahead of the Falangist party, nor was their pop- the vanity of the dictator. Economic time and did not follow a set order, but ulation chosen by the same phobias as historians have the floor. were drawn up only when they had to in Germany: Jews, undesirables, and Studies like these are feasible, for be sent to the Ministry. They were a jus- Communists. The origin of the the bureaucracy of the regime, both tification and had nothing to do with Spanish camps has an unmistakable the Army and the Ministry of Justice the food on stock or with what went military stamp that goes back to the and other branches of the govern- through the kitchen. The months I pre- Spanish-American war of 1898. Thus ment, produced mountains of pared them I never once consulted with the concept did not need to be import- documents. I personally witnessed the the cook or set foot in the pantry. It was ed from northern Europe and its variety of memos, statements, a theoretical exercise to comply with an totalitarian doctrines but derives from accounts and other documents that administrative requirement, and repre- a home-grown colonial model. At the issued from the offices of a modest sented the dietary conception of the beginning of the war, the camps were penal detachment like mine that doctors who invented it. improvised. Their systematization, worked on the construction of the That these calculations said one which happened almost immediately, monastery. By the time I was serving thing and the storeroom another was was the responsibility, as we have my sentence, the camps were no no accident. In theory not an ounce of seen, not of the Party, but of the longer under military jurisdiction. food should have gone astray. But Church, which brought the camps out Correspondence was sent daily to the what made the numbers doubly hypo- of a phase of blind repression to give General Office of Prisons, to the Office thetical was that the supplies them a dehumanized rationality, of Prison Labor, to other prisons and accounted for either had never which is difficult for us to share, but to the Guardia Civil. For example, entered the storeroom or had entered which responded to the objectives of prisoners were counted seven times a in quantities less than those declared. the regime. These were, as I have sug- day and the results were sent immedi- Trucks arrived at our detachment gested above, to avenge the military’s ately. They were then followed by from time to time. We all saw them frustration and to assure the long- weekly and monthly reports. One unload a sack or two and then leave term domination of one class over kind of memo we produced gave an nearly as heavy as they arrived. It was another, all within an organic vision of inventory of the amount of food theo- rumored that the Madrid black-market society. Class and revenge comple- retically consumed in the camp. These was supplied mainly by food diverted mented each other perfectly. documents, moldering in the archives, from prisons and barracks. We were The Franco labor camps were not give both a statistical account and a unable to determine where the trucks a necessity of war. They were complex picture of many of the tensions experi- and the profits wound up. It seems like- devices designed to keep great sectors enced in the camps. ly that there was a chain of supply to of the population under control after The documents from the penal better cover their tracks. The prisoners the war without incurring enormous detachments require, some more than had no doubt that the warden of our deficits that would have forced the others, a critical reading. The primary detachment got his share. regime to loosen its grip. The Army is lists of prisoners are reliable. No The shortage of food did not have normally not concerned with the sup- prison official would have dared to the consequences you might expect. ply chain intended to keep it cover up the disappearance of a pris- Prisoners worked overtime for direct marching. Professional economists, oner. The economic documents are pay from the company. This minimal virtually unknown at that time, didn’t another matter. The profits the State extra income was sufficient to buy have responsibility for the supply was making on high invited embez- cigarettes, wine and a little food. In chain either. It was the clergy, with zlement below. The Franco regime set point of fact, prisoners paid twice for greater social and doctrinaire concern the example for generalized corrup- their food: on the food line and in the than the bankers. tion, as I shall show. canteen. In this world of misery the One of my duties in the office was prisoners were free of moral indi- continued next page 14 THE VOLUNTEER September 2003 Violunteer2003-3.qxd 8/19/2003 2:13 PM Page 15

Robert Colodny Papers Continued from page 11

scientific revolutions and political questioning. The University of change. Pittsburgh conducted its own six- Colodny remained committed to month investigation, and Colodny progressive causes throughout his retained his teaching position. lifetime and was active in the peace University Chancellor Edward H. and civil rights movements. During Litchfield announced Professor the Vietnam War he was a member of Colodny’s vindication with a broad the group Veterans for Peace and was and moving statement endorsing the often seen at anti-war demonstrations idea of academic freedom. The Sculpture at the Valley of the Fallen. with Abraham Lincoln Brigade veter- Colodny proceedings were one of the Photos by Galen R Frysinger. ans. Colodny was an active member of last of the national witch hunt cases of the Veterans of the Abraham Lincoln the so-called McCarthy period. The The fact that I have chosen to Brigade (VALB) and a founding mem- Colodny Papers contain correspon- study Franco’s concentration camps ber of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade dence files, hearing transcripts, and from the perspective of my own per- Archives (ALBA). He wrote vividly newspaper clippings describing this sonal experience does not exclude about the Spanish Civil War in two important academic freedom case. recognition of the material and moral major books, The Struggle for Madrid After his retirement from the suffering of the prisoners and their (1958) and Spain, the Glory and the University of Pittsburgh, Colodny families; rather, it is a way of trying to Tragedy (1970). During the Vietnam continued to devote himself to understand the extreme dimensions War he published a very influential ALBA’s work and the preservation of and longevity that the system pamphlet, Spain and Vietnam: An historical memory of the Spanish Civil achieved, greater than those achieved Historical Perspective (1967), that was War. He served as an historical con- by Nazi Germany, the paradigm of persecution, cut short by the Allied victory. The Nazi camps were cruel He was one of the most prominent historians of science in instruments of war; Franco’s camps the United States , . . . His work demonstrated that the were that and more. They were tools of repression in a blood-drenched coun- history of science needs to be studied within a broad social try. As the repression lasted, vengeful and cultural context, because is very much part of the fury gave way over time to business and corruption. I believe it was Sir society that produced it. Samuel Hoare, the English ambassador in Madrid, who defined the Franco regime as “a dictatorship tempered by based on an address that he delivered sultant to the National Public corruption.” This corruption tempered before the Historical Commission of Broadcasting System program “Corpus the penal regime as well, though it the Veterans of the Abraham Lincoln Duende: Echoes of the Spanish Civil never lost its punitive integrity. Brigade. In this pamphlet he argued War.” He was a regular contributor to In conclusion, it is rather surpris- that the war in Spain, like the war in The Volunteer and spoke about his ing that Franco, whose awareness of Vietnam, was a war of national libera- experiences in Spain on college cam- the power of symbols led him to tion; both were “people’s wars for puses throughout the United States. parade under an ecclesiastical canopy social justice.” The Tamiment Library at New (like the Pope) or to conceive of the In 1961 Colodny became involved York University is continuing its Valley of the Fallen, did not under- in a national controversy when efforts to build the Abraham Lincoln stand the significance of building his Pennsylvania State Representative Brigade Archives. Veterans and their mausoleum with the forced labor of John T. Walsh of McKeesport accused families who have materials to con- political prisoners. With a little more him of being a Communist sympathiz- tribute, please contact Julia Newman, money, which he had in abundance, er. This incident followed the Executive Secretary, ALBA—Room he could have hired free labor and not publication of a story in the Pittsburgh 227, 799 Broadway, New York, NY left the stamp of vengeance on the press that quoted him as saying that 10003; 212-674-5398; vanquished or the shame of traffick- the Cuban revolution represented [email protected]. ing in prison labor. He was betrayed “agrarian reform.” Colodny was by his arrogance. Today his mortal called before the House Committee on Michael Nash is director of the Tamiment remains lie in a monument to revenge Un-American Activities (HUAC), Library at New York University. and corruption. where he was subjected to intense THE VOLUNTEER September 2003 15 Violunteer2003-3.qxd 8/19/2003 2:13 PM Page 16

MusicMusic ReviewsReviews Singing the Spanish Civil War

En La Plaza De Mi Pueblo, Spain in My Heart: Songs of the Spanish Civil War (Appleseed Recordings )

By Peter Glazer

We owe gratitude to Heather Bridger and her coproducer Joe Weed for their beautiful new CD, Spain in My Heart: Songs of the Spanish Civil War, to be released this month. It is an essential addition to the small “canon” of recordings that arose from the Spanish conflict. Though not all of the 17 tracks are successful, the vast majority are, some bordering on the transcendent. The liner notes with posters and photographs will make this a very appealing package for any- one with an interest in the war’s music and the ways the story has been reinter- Kenny Stahl’s flutes and the same the lyric reads, reminding us how cen- preted in the decades since. More than rhythm section on most tracks, the tral issues of land reform were to the half of the tracks are sung in Spanish featured artists are well supported. people of Spain. without translation, but that shouldn’t The CD opens with Arlo Guthrie, Most of the famous songs are dissuade non-Spanish speakers. In fact, in his rough, expressive baritone, here: “El Quinto Regimiento” sung by it is only a few of the English interpreta- singing a version of “Jarama Valley,” Lila Downs, a nearly danceable ver- tions that fail to capture the complex probably the best known of the sion of “Si Me Quieres Escribir” by emotions of the event. English language songs. It is intercut Queztal’s lead singers Gabriel and One reason the project is so suc- with Pete Seeger’s recollections of his Martha González, and Laurie Lewis’s cessful is the unusually broad participation in the first American sad and pretty “Peat Bog Soldiers.” spectrum of songs and performers recording of Spanish Civil War songs. The brother-sister duo Bridger has gathered: from Pete This segues beautifully into “En La Guardabarranco, Katia and Salvador Seeger, who has been singing some of Plaza De Mi Pueblo,” which begins Cardenal, have two gorgeous tracks, these songs longer than anyone but with sounds of a Spanish plaza under- “Asturias” and “Noche Nochera,” the the veterans themselves, to Bay area scoring an arrhythmic bass line, latter Salvador Cardenal’s magnificent bluegrass star Laurie Lewis, to the percussion, hand claps and flute, set- setting of Garcia Lorca’s “Romance de brilliant contemporary Spanish singer- ting up Michele Green’s strong vocal. la Guardia Espanola,” composed songwriter Uxía and Aoife Clancy, It creates a beautiful transition to the specifically for this project. Its sinuous daughter of Bobby Clancy of the Spanish landscape, where the events melodic turns from minor to major Clancy Brothers. Thanks to solid, that inspired these songs tore a coun- chords lift the heart. straightforward production, Weed’s try apart. “With my hoe I write pages Continued on page 20 beautiful guitar and string playing, of misery and sweat upon the land,” 16 THE VOLUNTEER September 2003 Violunteer2003-3.qxd 8/19/2003 2:13 PM Page 17

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fear, and pessimism was the funda- Why the Spaniards mental source of Republican failure. While Seidman is careful to show sim- ilar “selfishness” among the Francoist Fought ranks, their efficient organization on the front lines and in the rear-guard Republic of Egos: A Social History of preservation of their families, their and the maintenance of non-combat the Spanish Civil War. towns, or themselves. Such personal populations mattered far more than by Michael Seidman, Madison: University reasons often conflicted with and the numerical superiority of the of Wisconsin Press, 2002 damaged the collective interests of Republican forces. Seidman writes class, gender, party, or union. that if “a soldier’s valor depends on Seidman says that the Spanish Second his stomach,” then one side clearly By Joshua Goode Republic was filled with egos first, succeeded in filling those stomachs— Over the past decade, historical republicans second. albeit with far more international revision of the conflagrations of the Seidman skillfully demonstrates support—while the other failed. 1930s and 1940s, especially World War that these individuals were not merely Seidman’s work is particularly II and the Holocaust, has focused on callous and selfish, but rather were, in valuable for the detailed portrait of the individual, exploring individual a sense, abetted or forced into selfish- the Spanish Civil War gleaned from acts, small groups, the platoon rather ness by structural defects in the energetic archival work and sec- than the battalion, and “the Pianist” Republican management of the war. ondary reading. Seidman makes rather than the orchestra. These works Stated simply, the Republican govern- reference to letters, front-line reports, set out to prove that understanding ment failed to convince its loyalists to requisition and quartermaster past events needs to be more intricate sacrifice and die for the war. The fail- requests, minutes from meetings, tele- and complicated. We know why states ure grew more acute as the conflict grams, regulations, and medical go to war; why do people so willingly devolved into protracted trench war- records that capture the war in all of fight in them? We need to know why fare that tested the skills of state its noisome smell, hunger pangs, petti- people did what they did in war, how bureaucrats and military quartermas- ness, confusion, and surprising they became killers, or worse, genoci- ters to feed, clothe, motivate and arm camaraderie. He brings us to local dal killers. a fighting force as supplies dwindled, meetings, lets us see particular Michael Seidman, a history pro- foreign aid was minimal, and graft ran instances of looting, tells us what was fessor at the University of North rampant. For Seidman, these pres- in the soldiers’ mess plates, what Carolina/Wilmington, brings this sures on the individual soldier were kinds of pastimes they engaged in and kind of analysis to the Spanish Civil far more explanatory of the Loyalists’ what they screamed to the enemy War. As Seidman writes, his goal is to failures to maintain a committed fight- across the no man’s land. In the way replace this view of the great battle of ing force than were politics, culture, or that a good movie adds flesh and bone “isms” by “bringing back the individ- ideology. to past events, Seidman’s efforts give ual” to study the war “from the Using a range of evidence to show us insight into the varied minds of the bottom up.” this lack of commitment, Seidman soldier and civilian. Given the range What did Seidman discover by details pillaging and looting that of documentation, one cannot quibble studying individuals and their Republican troops engaged in lightly with Seidman’s arguments. His motives in the Spanish Civil War? throughout the Republican zone that work is a revealing portrait of the war. Spaniards (by which he means the citi- hampered state efforts to feed all of its Yet, oddly, as a result of zens of Spain, rather than the forces. He describes the live and let Seidman’s focus on Spanish citizens, volunteers who flocked to Spain, an live system of trench warfare (a term he seems to draw an unintentional important point to which I will return) first coined to describe World War I), and perhaps contradictory conclusion. fought or did not fight, fired their where opposing soldiers did not fire There were exceptions to Seidman’s guns or deserted their positions, to kill but to keep up appearances, emphasis on egoism, especially donated their possessions or hoarded even engaging in soccer games and among the international volunteers material necessary for the war effort, newspaper exchanges, as symbols of a that came to Spain beginning in for very personal reasons. These rea- lack of commitment on both sides. November 1936. According to sons usually related to the This “egoism” born of frustration, Continued on page 18 THE VOLUNTEER September 2003 17 Violunteer2003-3.qxd 8/19/2003 2:13 PM Page 18

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recruiting sergeant than the GAL.”) Spanish Terrorism In 1983, Judge Baltazar Garzón began his investigations, and eventu- ally, several key GAL figures were Dirty War. Clean Hands. ETA, the GAL that should be read by all of those sentenced to prison. Felipe González’ and Spanish Democracy. interested in Spanish politics. complicity in the GAL affair was Paddy Woodworth. New Haven: Yale The text begins by introducing the never proven, but in 1996 he lost the University Press, 2003. reader to the mysterious history of the elections to José María Aznar. From Basques, whose origins are still dis- his consistently ethical stance, By Shirley Mangini puted today. Inhabitants of the Woodworth praises the attempt to peninsula for some 2000 years, with execute justice, but faults the former Paddy Woodworth, an Irish free- their own culture, language and dis- socialist government for continuing to lance writer, has recently published a tinctive physical characteristics, the evade the moral issues of the dirty revised edition of Dirty War. Clean fiercely independent Basque people war and for oscillating between the Hands (first published by Cork have preserved a distinct spirit denial of and justification for the exis- University Press in 2001). The book through the centuries. tence of GAL. deals with the riveting, grizzly story of When Sabino Arana founded the Shirley Mangini is Professor of Spanish how Felipe González’ socialist govern- Basque Nationalist Party (PNV) in the at California State University, Long ment created an underground terrorist late 19th century and declared his Beach, and author of Memories of organization, the Grupos Antiterroristas nation a race, rather than an ethnic Resistance: Women’s Voices from the de Liberación (GAL), to combat the group, his ideas were embraced by his Spanish Civil War. Basque terrorist group ETA. people. Six decades later, after years of Woodworth’s passionate interest enduring repression under the Franco in this theme—he covered Spanish regime, the younger members of affairs for The Irish Times and the BBC PNV—repulsed by the older genera- Why they Fought Continued from page 17 for over 20 years—originated from a tion’s apathy—created ETA. But it was personal connection to one of the not until l968 that ETA launched its main players in the GAL affair, Julián politics of violence, an armed struggle Seidman, these volunteers clearly dis- Sancristobal. As the story unfolds, we against the regime that was supported tinguished themselves from find that Woodworth was motivated or at least condoned by many of Spaniards with their skill and bravado by a commitment to justice, condemn- Spain’s dissidents. precisely because they were fighting ing violence by describing how When the regime ended and the for ideals rather than personal gain. terrorism begets more terrorism. referendum on the Constitution took The International Brigades were the “Reprehensible as ETA’s terrorism place in l978, the majority of heroes of the defense of the Republic has been,” he says, “I do not believe Spaniards were elated, but not the because of, rather than despite, their that the democratic state has any man- Basques. Thus began the contention ideological commitment. In the end, date to use terror against terrorism, between the new democracy and Seidman does not seem to dispute however much it has been provoked.” Basque nationalism. When Felipe what meaning the war had for those And he aims to prove his convictions González became Prime Minister in outside Spain—as the first great con- through a dramatic narration of the 1982, it took only a few days for ETA test of “isms” in the 20th century. events that led up to the creation of to show its dissent through a new Unfortunately, the loyalist soldiers GAL and that culminated in endless wave of terrorism. The next year, mys- and citizenry of Spain, who were investigations and trials. terious killings of suspected Basque forged within a Spanish historical Paddy Woodworth has made a terrorists and a number of innocent context that gave them higher person- major contribution to the study of bystanders began in border towns— al expectations, and, ultimately, the Spanish history on a subject that has many of the members of ETA lived in most to gain and the most to lose, did been masked and manipulated for 20 France, a safe haven in those years— not share this view with their interna- years. His dedication to his material, and continued until l987. ETA tional colleagues. his need to get to the bottom of things reciprocated by stepping up its own Joshua Goode teaches in the History in a personal, yet objective, style, violence. (As Woodworth notes: “In Department at Occidental College. makes Dirty War. Clean Hands a book the l980s, ETA would get no better 18 THE VOLUNTEER September 2003 Violunteer2003-3.qxd 8/19/2003 2:13 PM Page 19

BookBook ReviewsReviews

James Garcia Woods is a pen name for Mysteries of the Sally Spencer, a prolific writer of English language mysteries and his- Spanish Civil War torical sagas who lives in Spain. Amazon.com has a Sally The Fifth Column. the murder of an African-American Spencer/James Garcia Woods page By James Garcia Woods. Madrid: Noche volunteer, a man so admired and com- that reveals all. Flug, 2002. ([email protected]) petent that many think it must have Rebecca C. Pawel’s Death of a been an act of sabotage. Yet the novel Nationalist is set in Madrid at the end never fully realizes the U.S. racial of the war. Pawel, a Brooklyn high Death of a Nationalist. By Rebecca C. divide, despite its place at the center of school teacher, places a reluctant Pawel. New York: Soho Press, 2003. the plot, and the inspector wears a homicide inspector at the helm of macho sensibility that is probably another murder investigation. This authentic, but hard to take for a femi- time the victim and the inspector are By Martha Olson Jarocki nist reader with even small knowledge both members of the Guardia Civil, In two new mystery novels, the of the role of women in the Republic. Franco’s feared police force. But the Spanish Civil War provides the back- The Fifth Column is a mixed bag, inspector has second thoughts about ground for crime and punishment. delightful and frustrating at once. It is his position and increasingly finds his The Fifth Column is set in San the third Inspector Ruiz Civil War morality and humanity at odds with Antonio de la Jara, a small village near mystery; the others are A Murder of No what is expected of him. This novel’s Albacete, where the Abraham Lincoln Consequence and The General’s Dog. setting is more problematic, but ulti- Brigade rests and prepares to face the (Guess which ones are set in the fas- mately more satisfying. fascists once again. It is a setting made cist camp.) The title, which refers to an This is a story that hinges on the to order for a VALB aficionado. To enemy from within, has a dab of irony Continued on page 20 peer down those dusty streets and all its own; the author is not himself. hang around the Lincolns while they oiled ancient rifles, talked trade unions, or made supply runs to Memories of the Albacete are pleasures to savor. The novel inhabits a place and a time so Spanish Struggle clearly realized (at least for one who was never there) that the hands that To Make the People Smile Again: A boat as Jack Jones (who has written grip the page begin to smell of garlic. Memoir of the Spanish Civil War. By the book’s forward) via France. He In The Fifth Column Inspector Paco George Wheeler. Newcastle-upon-Tyne: was fired by a speech by Aneurin Ruiz, a Republican soldier, is pressed Zymurgy, 2003. Bevan in Trafalgar Square. As George into service to solve a mystery because says, he never had been further south his past as a Madrid homicide inspec- By Dolly Westshaer than Margate, and the whole experi- tor comes back to haunt him. The ence of different cultures, languages, victim was a member of the Lincolns We came to sunny Spain and the war had a strong effect on him. and suspicions threaten morale in a To make the people smile again The book is divided into three sec- unit desperately needed to defend And to drive the Fascist bastard tions: first, why Wheeler went, how Madrid. Paco enlists his U.S. fiancé as From the hill and from the plain he got there, and his introduction to translator and wrestles his Spanish A British Battalion marching song. the Internationals; then the training sensibility around a series of interest- and fighting; and, finally, his journey ing characters so deeply rooted in This paperback is very different to and imprisonment for seven 1930’s left wing politics that The Daily from most of those written about what months in the concentration camps of Worker echoes in their voices. A classy I would prefer to call the Spanish San Pedro de Cardenas and San but unbelievable woman war corre- Anti-Fascist War. Sebastian. George explains that he spondent twists the plot as it George Wheeler was raised as a was and is an anti-fascist. He and the deliciously unfolds. socialist in Battersea, London. He was rest of the Labour Movement had seen Inspector Ruiz is confronted with 24 when he went to Spain on the same Continued on page 20 THE VOLUNTEER September 2003 19 Violunteer2003-3.qxd 8/19/2003 2:13 PM Page 20

BookBook ReviewsReviews

Smiles But the important thing about this Continued from page 19 book is that it is not a detailed military account of what happened. It is the the rise of Hitler and Mussolini and what seems to have been a carbuncle reactions and observations of a social- the attack on the legitimate govern- on his arm.) It was at the end of this ist working-class anti-fascist young ment of Spain by Franco and the last battle that he was taken prisoner. man from Battersea. It reveals the loss fascists. He had seen the effects of non- Wheeler then describes the con- of his naivety, his anger at the deaths interventionist policies of Western centration camps and the fascists’ of his comrades, the warmth and gen- Europe and, like the other 2,400 or so attempts to denigrate and dehuman- erosity of the Spanish people, and his who went from Britain (of whom 526 ize the prisoners with all the class consciousness. were killed), saw the need to defend psychological and physical means at In all this he is still today an anti- democracy and defend Spain. their disposal. fascist. I can tell because I know him. Wheeler describes the journey George finally left Spain in April Read this book. Give it to mem- through France, the horrendous climb 1939, traveling the last part of the jour- bers of the Labor Movement and tell over the Pyrenees, and then on to the ney by bus. He was welcomed home them about it. Above all give it to training camps and finally on to the by his family, who were having a young people who, as we see, are battlefields. During the journeys he party, with the words, “Where the becoming more politically aware. describes the friendships of the bloody hell have you been?” Brigaders and the warm welcome of This book is important to me, the Spanish peasants who greeted especially because George was taken Mysteries them with clenched fist salutes. prisoner with my father, Frank West, Continued from page 19 His first battle was at the Ebro on July and released at the same time. I 25, 1938, and the fight for Hill 481. learned more about Dad in prison and disappointment of the Civil War. It is George’s last battle was in September what happened to them. There are set among Spaniards who fought for 1938, still on the Ebro. (He had a short names of some of the guards that are the Republic and are now under- break in a hospital because he had familiar to me. ground, hiding from a vengeful and unrestrained Guardia Civil that lives high on the hog in the midst of Spain in My Heart widespread starvation. The women at Continued from page 16 the heart of the story struggle to sur- Two of the newer songs in English The one major disappointment for vive at the same time they’re reeling deserve mention: Christy Moore’s me is Joel and Jamaica Rafael’s “Los from the cultural nosedive back into “Viva La Quinte Brigada” is touching- Cuatro Generales.” The jaunty Catholicism and sexism that the ly sung by Shay Black and Aoife arrangement and cheerful vocals just Francoists seek to enforce. Pavel’s char- Clancy. It suffers only from the loss of don’t fit the spirit of the song. It’s not acters take on a luminous life, proud one harrowing verse, describing the surprising that they excised its darkest of their political choices and tinged Irish priests who supported Franco. lyric, which imagines a just end for with regret as they deal with what For Moore, “The men of cloth failed yet Franco’s henchmen: “At Christmas, they thought was an impossible again/When the bishops blessed the holy evening/Mamita mia/They’ll all future. blueshirts in Dun Laoghaire/As they be hanging, they’ll all be hanging.” Like Both of these novels reveal a time sailed beneath the swastika to Spain.” Catholics sailing under the Nazi flag, in which ordinary people struggled in The CD closes with Bruce Barthol’s images such as these are crucial in por- extraordinary circumstances. For this 1986 “Taste of Ashes,” whose title cap- traying the brutal war. They would add alone, they are a keen read. At a time tures perfectly the bitter defeat in specificity, tension and complication to when the U.S. imperialist tide runs Spain. Laurie Lewis’s rendition is faith- all this inspiring music. high, Republican Spain is a fine talis- ful to this great song, but anyone who man. No Pasaran! Peter Glazer, director of many ALBA- has heard Velina Brown’s deeply felt VALB reunion events, teaches in the Martha Olson Jarocki is the daughter of and shattering version under Barthol’s Department of Theater, Dance and Lincoln vet Leonard Olson and an associ- musical direction at the veterans’ annu- Performance Studies at the University of ate in the Bay Area Veterans and Friends al events may have trouble with California, Berkeley. of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade. Lewis’ understated delivery. 20 THE VOLUNTEER September 2003 Violunteer2003-3.qxd 8/19/2003 2:13 PM Page 21

Memory’s Roster

Vita Barsky We note with sadness the death of THEY ALSO FELL Vita Barsky, widow of Dr. Edward Barsky, who founded and led the American Medical Bureau during the Arthur Harrison Spanish Civil War. She was feisty and John Rossen indefatigable, even at age 92, and a devoted friend of the Lincoln Brigade Joseph Lafayette Young and the Abraham Lincoln Brigade Archives. Dr. Edward Barsky

and the right to profit from their Dear Editor, Letters labor—and at the present time they In your book review of Fighting Continued from page 2 are heroically fighting and laying Fascism in Europe by Lawrence Cane, down their lives so that the genera- as printed in the June 2003 Volunteer, Dear Volunteer, tions to come will have that right, in a you state: “Of the 400 ALB veterans As you noted in The Volunteer, my free, happy and rich Spain. When I get who fought during WW II, Lawrence father, Lincoln Brigade member Robert home I’ll be able to tell many interest- Cane was the only one to participate Klonsky, died in September of 2003 at the ing stories. But meanwhile that will in the D-Day Normandy invasion.” age of 84. We discovered among his papers have to wait…. My husband, Alfred L. (Al) Tanz, who many letters that he had written to his I imagine that this letter will reach had been recruited by Bill Donovan, family from his time in Spain. I would like you in time for the Passover holidays. head of the OSS, parachuted into to share a letter he wrote in March 1937. I’m taking this opportunity of wishing France prior to D-Day. He was secret- —Fred Klonsky all of you a really happy Pesach, and I ed in a farmhouse in the village of Chicago promise you that next Passover I’ll be Saint-Mere-Eglise, where his mission Dear Mom, Pop and Family- back home with all of you, and I’ll was to cut electrical wires overlooking This past Friday was my 19th drink a toast to you with Papa’s wine the beach, in anticipation of the inva- birthday—and was I proud! I’m one of that I miss very much. Meanwhile, my sion. Saint-Mere-Eglise was the first the youngest men up here—that is, place, I believe, is here, doing my bit village liberated on D-Day, June 6, excluding the Spanish boys them- to make sure that in the future no race 1944. Al eventually attained the rank selves. One feels very old when he of people, whether Jew or gentile, will of Captain in the U.S. Army. sees children of 14 and 15 years going have cause for mourning their dead. I Sincerely, to the front lines to fight. And one know that you will agree with me, Freda Tanz feels very proud to be part of it all—I when I say that I’m doing more for my 1926 Francisco Street can’t really find the words suitable to race and my class, here in Spain, help- Berkeley, CA 94709, (510) 540-9870 describe the country! Acres and acres ing in the fight against Fascism, than I of olive groves and orange groves could possibly do at home. Still in all, Editor: cover the country. Spain is a very rich I’m going to miss it all, since this is the We have exciting news about country in natural resources—espe- first Passover in my life that I have not plans to build a large monument to cially agriculture. But the people—the been at home with all of you. As a the International Brigades near the poor Spanish people! One wonders matter of fact, this is the first time that town of Marca, Catalonia. This note is what has kept the workers and peas- I have been away from home for such an appeal for you to contribute funds ants in ignorance and subjugation a long period of time, and I feel sort of to assist in the project. until now. The worst slum sections of homesick—You can help a lot by writ- Here is located the grave of John Brooklyn are a paradise compared to ing as often as possible, and please tell Cookson, who was killed at the Ebro the living quarters of the working peo- me everything—Make the letters long. Front in the last days of the Brigades’ ple here. But those things are coming —Your son, brother, brother-in- fight against Franco. By good fortune, to an end! They have begun to realize law, uncle and comrade, this gravesite, one of the few, if not the that the labor and sweat that they Bob only remaining one in Spain, was not have put into the soil and the factory entitle them to the right of self-rule, Continued on page 22 THE VOLUNTEER September 2003 21 Violunteer2003-3.qxd 8/19/2003 2:13 PM Page 22

Contributions

In Memory of a Veteran In Memory of Jack Shafran in memory of Harry Fisher Marcus Raijer in memory of my father $100 $75 Reeann Halonen in memory of Oiva Contributions Halonen $60 Mary Boyer $20 Leona Feyer in memory of Al Prago and Ruth & Harry Fisher $100 Letters Thelma Frye in memory of Peter Frye Continued from page 21 $100 seen by the Franco marauders, who made every attempt Ulrich Bodek in memory of Dr. Günter to destroy all evidence of the volunteers. Different generations of local residents kept the Boder, Thaelmann Brigade Veteran $100 grave hidden and cared for over the years. Harry Jeannette Dean in memory of Wilfred Fisher’s son-in-law Geoff then traced it down a few years back and found a dedicated group of local residents who Mendelson $50 had undertaken to rehabilitate the site. They posted a sign with a moving obituary and John’s photograph. Moe Fishman in memory of Gerry Cook, Recently a dear friend from Barcelona, Juan Maria Gómez Ortiz, translated into Spanish the collection of Dave Gordon, Herman (Gabby) John’s letters that I self-published in 1992 under the title Rosenstein, Don Thayer, Al Warren $25 “Remembering John Cookson: a Wisconsin Anti-Fascist in the Spanish Civil War.” Juan Maria coordinated with the Marca leaders to hold a commemoration at the site in July 2002 and wrote a detailed report that appeared When drafting your will, please in The Volunteer. My daughter, Julie Kailin, and son, consider making a bequest to the John Kailin, attended that commemoration. Abraham Lincoln Brigade Archives The Wisconsin Friends of the Lincoln Brigade pledged $1,000 seed money last year to the monument (ALBA). project. Our friends in Spain were heartened to learn For information contact: Executive that their small community of several hundred was Director, ALBA-Room 227, 799 being joined by friends far away. Your contribution will be important to keeping that Broadway, New York, NY 10003 spirit going. Needs might include site acquisition, 212-674-5398. design of the site and of the monument, construction of both, and on-going care. The first weekend in November an association in Catalonia called “No From the estate of Sana Goldblatt $500 Jubilem La Memoria” (roughly: “They Can’t Erase Memory”) will unveil the monument during a weekend From the estate of William (Bill) Van of commemoration of the 65th anniversary of the “Farewell’ to the Brigades with an exhibition and a con- Felix $5,000 ference. Dr. Louis Kroll in memory of Dr. Zachary Please make out checks to Wisconsin Friends of the Lincoln Brigade and mail to Clarence Kailin, 501 Evergreen Stadt $50 Ave., Madison, WI 53704. You can call me at (608) 241-2829. Comradely, Clarence Kailin, VALB 22 THE VOLUNTEER September 2003 Violunteer2003-3.qxd 8/19/2003 2:13 PM Page 23

ALBA BOOKS, VIDEOS AND POSTERS ALBA EXPANDS WEB BOOKSTORE Buy Spanish Civil War books on the WEB. ALBA members receive a discount! WWW.ALBA-VALB.ORG BOOKS ABOUT THE LINCOLN BRIGADE The Triumph of Democracy in Spain by Paul Preston The Selected Poems of Miguel Hernández edited by Ted Genoways The Lincoln Brigade, a Picture History by William Katz and Marc Crawford The Wound and the Dream: Sixty Years of American Poems about the Spanish Civil War EXHIBIT CATALOGS by Cary Nelson They Still Draw Pictures: Children’s Art in Wartime Passing the Torch: The Abraham by Anthony Geist and Peter Carroll Lincoln Brigade and its Legacy of Hope by Anthony Geist and Jose Moreno The Aura of the Cause, a photo album edited by Cary Nelson Another Hill by Milton Wolff VIDEOS Our Fight—Writings by Veterans of the Into the Fire: Women and the Spanish Civil War Abraham Lincoln Brigade: Spain 1936-1939 Julia Newman edited by Alvah Bessie & Albert Prago Art in the Struggle for Freedom Spain’s Cause Was Mine Abe Osheroff by Hank Rubin Dreams and Nightmares Comrades Abe Osheroff by Harry Fisher The Good Fight The Odyssey of the Abraham Sills/Dore/Bruckner Lincoln Brigade Forever Activists by Peter Carroll Judith Montell You Are History, You Are Legend ALBA’S TRAVELING EXHIBITION Judith Montell THE AURA OF THE CAUSE

ALBA’s photographic exhibit, “The Aura of the Cause,” has been shown at the Puffin Room in New ❑ Yes, I wish to become an ALBA York City, the University of California-San Diego, the Associate, and I enclose a check for $25 Salvador Dali Museum in St. Petersburg, FL, the Fonda made out to ALBA. Please send me The Del Sol Visual Center in Washington DC, and the Volunteer. University of Illinois. This exhibit, curated by Name ______Professor Cary Nelson of the University of Illinois, consists of hundreds of photographs of the Lincoln Address ______Brigaders, other international volunteers and their Spanish comrades, in training and at rest, among the City______State ___Zip______Spanish villages and in battle. ❑ I’ve enclosed an additional donation of For further information about “The Aura of the ❑ ❑ Cause” exhibit, contact ALBA’s executive secretary, ______. I wish do not wish to have this donation acknowledged in The Volunteer. Diane Fraher, 212-598-0968; Fax: 212-529-4603; e-mail [email protected]. The exhibit is available for Please mail to: ALBA, 799 Broadway, Room 227, New museum and art gallery showings. York, NY 10003 BRING THIS EXHIBIT TO YOUR LOCALITY.

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Jack Shafran and his son-in-law Bill Thom standing on Hill 666. While in Spain Shafran recounted one of his long-time ambitions, to visit Franco’s tomb and pay a special homage. See page 3.

The Volunteer c/o Abraham Lincoln Brigade Archives NON PROFIT ORG 799 Broadway, Rm. 227 US POSTAGE New York, NY 10003 PAID SAN FRANCISCO, CA PERMIT # XXXX

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